Zu "Die Story im Ersten: Griechisches Roulette" vom 23.04.2014

Unter dem Vorbehalt der Entscheidung der nächsten Instanz und allein zur Erfüllung des noch nicht rechtskräftigen aber bereits vorläufig vollstreckbaren Urteils des griechischen Berufungsgerichts wird folgende Zusammenfassung veröffentlicht.

The Athens’ Court of Appeal has issued its decision no. 4496/2023 (rendered on 25.09.2023) in a dispute between Ioannis Mantzouranis (son of Konstantinos), as claimant, and «ARD-Arbeitsgemeinschaft der offentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland» and others, as respondents, by which the aforementioned court ruled that the projection of the image of the aforementioned plaintiff on 24.03.2014, at around 22:55, at the 29th second of the broadcast of the TV-documentary show with the title "Die Story im Ersten" in the ARD platform, with the subtitle "Griechisches Roulette", which projection lasted approximately two (2) seconds, in which the plaintiff appeared holding a cigar in his hand, with his facial features slightly blurred (in such a way that he becomes, according to the decision, undoubtedly recognizable by persons who knew him or persons that were aware of his appearance), while at the same time the presenter, in the context of the narrative flow of the show, mentioned the phrase "Unter den Augen Brüssels verstecken die Reichen ihre Steuer-Miliarden", was defamatory for the aforementioned claimant, since it gave the false impression to the persons who viewed the show, either live or on the Internet (where it was later uploaded on the website www.ard.de, making it accessible to an unspecified number of people around the world and where it remained until October 2017), that he is among the rich tax evaders.

This publication is made in accordance with art. 1 para. 6 of the Greek Law 1178/1981 and the ruling of decision no. 4496/2023 of the Athens’ Court of Appeal. It is noted though that the respondents vehemently deny any liability and in fact the Athens’ First Instance Court, with its decision no. 1083/2021 had dismissed all the claims. The appellate decision has been appealed with the legal remedies provided by the Greek law before the Greek Supreme Court.